By Lene Andersen. Health care writer, RA and disability advocate, wheelchair user and camera nut. Author of Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Ease of Use: Fiskars Titanium Easy Action Scissors

As you may have noticed, this week is a little heavy on Ease
of Use review. I made a commitment to post these before the end of the month
and miscellaneous life events got in the way of a more even distribution. Hang
in there. We return to your regularly scheduled program on Friday.

The Arthritis
Foundation’s Ease-of-Use
Commendation recognizes products proven to make life easier for people who
have arthritis and other physical limitations. These products are independently
tested by experts and evaluated by people with arthritis. I have been asked to
review a number of Ease-of-Use products during May, Arthritis Awareness Month
in the US. My mother, who has osteoarthritis in her
hands, is helping by testing some of these products, as well.

"The Original Orange-Handled Scissors. Introduced to the world first as a quality fabric scissors,
the scissors caused quite a stir. Not only was the design radical compared to
forged scissors, but also much lighter and more comfortable. The cutting
performance was so good forced many of home seamstress to declare the scissors
off-limits - the same still holds true today."

Instant flashback! My mother used to sew and she was good at
it - in fact, she used to sew her own clothes, as well as mine when I was
little (by the time my sister came along, life prevented too much sewing). And
I remember the orange-handled scissors - they were an integral part of my
childhood. In fact, I don't remember any other scissors, other than my own
stunted baby scissors. They may even have been involved in one of the most
embarrassing stories that exists about my childhood. My mother had bought a
beautiful, expensive piece of fabric for a suit and was halfway done. In those
days, we lived in a tiny little house. My room was adjacent to the
living/dining room and right outside my door was our dining room table, which
served as my mother's sewing table after dinner. One day when I was about four
years old, I got up before everyone else and apparently decided to be helpful.
When my mother got up, her beautiful half-done suit was cut to pieces and the
way she tells the story, I was very proud about helping her make her suit. The
only thing I remember about this incident is sitting underneath the dining room
table, being very upset because I had done something bad while my mother stood
in front of it, no doubt weeping.

Anyway! The Fiskars EasyAction Scissors are a new generation of
scissors, made especially for fabric. They have what's called a "spring
assist," which automatically opens up the blades, designed to make cutting
easier. You only have to squeeze the scissors shut and they open themselves.
The Softgrip® handle is designed to reduce hand fatigue and the bent handle
design is supposed to keep materials flat while cutting, improving accuracy.
The website says that the scissors can cut a wide variety of materials,
including denim, silk and multiple layers of fabric. They have a lifetime
warranty.

Both my mother and I love these scissors! They are
incredibly well thought out, both as a tool and (mostly) as a tool for people
with arthritis. They are sharp as anything - we didn't have any fabric around,
but tested them on paper compared to regular pair of scissors and they cut like
a dream. Very sharp, very accurate - something in the design clearly lived up
to the goal of cutting accuracy, because even though I had some trouble using
them (see below for details), I could still cut in a straight line. That was
quite something.

The handle is amazing. There is room for four fingers on one
handle and the other rests in the space in your palm between your thumb and the
knuckles of your other fingers. This means that when you squeeze the scissors
shot, you are doing so with four fingers placed comfortably on one side, easing
the strain on each individual finger. On the other side, you're using your
palm, instead of your thumb joint. I don't uses scissors much anymore, but I
remember that one of the most difficult things about it was the way my thumb,
especially the base joint, always hurt afterwards.

Another thing that protects your fingers from strain is the
spring-action. Granted, it takes a bit of getting used to this having the
scissors opening on their own, but not long and when you do, it was very, very
good. One of those "why didn't anyone think of this before?" moments
mixed with "I'm so glad someone finally did!" I have a pair of scissors
that I use for pretty much everything, but which are usually limited in my using
them for things that only need one cut. If it needs more than one cut, I have
to squeeze the blade shut with my right hand, then use both hands to open them
and repeat as necessary. It's a pain in the arse and I usually save cutting for
my attendants or The Boy. I am completely in love with the spring-action
invention. We need more scissors with this design! Hurrah for independent
cutting!

My mother and I had two concerns specifically related to hands
that have moderate to severe arthritis. The first is the lock that holds the
scissors closed. We both really liked that you have to disengage the lock on
each side of the scissor, which increases safety around small hands that might
potentially want to assist with making a new suit. A-hem. However, it was very
tight - again excellent preventative strategy for wee ones who shouldn't play
with something this sharp, but also a barrier for fingers that hurt.

Secondly, they are a large pair of scissors. My mother has
fairly large hands and used them comfortably. I, on the other hand, have small
hands and did not. I could barely get my hand around them – partly due to my
hand size, partly due to deformities. However, I do want to point out that when
I did use them (not as open as they could get because my hand/grip is too small),
I could use them to cut because of the spring-action. That was pretty amazing. There
are a number of other scissors in this design, but I don’t know if any of them
are smaller. If not, I’d like to suggest to Fiskars that they make two or three
of these scissors in different sizes. Because I'd very much like a pair.

Bottom line? A solid A. Make some in different sizes and
find a way to deal with the lock issue and they’ll get an A+.

5 comments:

I used similar scissors this weekend for the first time, very nice design. But, for someone with a tendency towards repetitive stress injuries, there is only one cutting tool truly worth getting.....a Rotary Cutter and as big a mat as your table and storage allows! I use mine for sewing, whether quilting or dressmaking, it cuts more accurately than pinning and scissoring, is easier on the body, allows for better cutting posture, and the ergo designed cutters have less hand pain. But a 3 year old who can move a chair, climb onto a counter, open a cupboard, climb up to the third shelf, pull down a bag, open said bag, remove the cutter, loosen the safety screw (this screw might be an issue for accessibility), and squeeze the handle, will then say, "my fum got all wed" to the ER doctor stitching him up.....

The scissors get an A from me. Easy to use, sharp and makes a super straight cut.

I enjoyed the story about my ruined suit. I believe I did cry at first, but think you have forgotten the part where I laughed my head off and was so proud of you trying to help me that you got a big hug.

Fortunately, the skirt was finished and in the bedroom closet. The jacket never saw the light of day again as sleeves cut in half were not in fashion at the time.

I have a tip for you about unlocking that lock clip! Before trying to slide the lock clip, squeeze the handles together a little more than where they rest it. It doesn't move much, but it does makes it easier to slide the lock clip.